Published on May 07, 2005

[TENNIS] The final of the US$10,000 (Bt400,000) TAT Phuket Open sees two unlikely challengers battle for the title as qualifier Alun Jones of Australia and “lucky loser” Patrick Schmolzer of Austria, square off today.

Born in South Africa but based in Canberra, the 963rd-ranked Jones booked his spot in the final by easily taking out Brazilian Josh Goffi 6-3 6-1. In a more hard-fought clash, Schmolzer knocked out the only seeded player left among the semi-finalists, Frank Moser of Germany, the tournament’s No 2, 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 7-5 to extend his incredible run.

The 20-year-old Austrian had lost in the final qualifying round last Sunday to Indonesian Bonit Wirayan 4-6 1-6. But with some players withdrawing, he was awarded a place in the maindraw as a lucky loser. Apart from Moser, Schmolzer’s other victim was American sixth-seed Michael Yani whom he beat 6-3 7-6 (9-7) in round one.

Neither Jones nor Schmolzer has lifted a championship trophy this year. But the 25-year-old Australian has one title under his belt, which came in Berri, Australia in 2002.

In the doubles semi-finals, Brazilian Goffi and American Trevor Spracklin, the top pairing, ousted Indian fourth-seeds Kamala Kannan and Vinod Sridhar 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 while Germans Patrick Knobloch and Dominik Meffert narrowly edged past Indonesians Suwandi Suwandi and Bonit Wiryawan 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-2). In Walikota, Indonesia, fourth-seeded Nudnida Luangnam reached the semi-final of an ITF tournament for the second straight week following her win over Septi Mende of Indonesia 6-4 6-0 in the US$10,000 Walikota Tarakan Cup yesterday.

The Sukhothai native reached the final last week in Jakarta where she lost to Indonesian Ayu-Fani Damayanti, who yesterday beat another Thai Pichittra Thongdach 6-1 6-4 to advance to the semi-finals.

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